A newly released study of CEOs from the world's 50 most lucrative companies found their use of social media has increased, with LinkedIn and Twitter as their favorite platforms to engage in. Interestingly, none of the executives studied have public Facebook pages, and video marketing has become more important as more than half of them have participated in a video on their company website or YouTube channel.

Below are specific stats from the study:

-More than 50% of CEOs have participated in a company video, compared to 40% in 2012

-22% of CEOs now have a LinkedIn account, compared to 6% in 2012

-10% of CEOs have a Twitter handle, compared to 2% in 2012

-0% public Facebook pages were found for these CEOs, compared to 10% in 2012

-0% of Google+ accounts were found for these CEOs, compared to 2% in 2012

Overall, 28% of these CEOs were found to have social media accounts, compared to 18% in 2012. Although 28% is still not a majority, the trends continue to show CEOs are becoming increasingly active on social media.

CEOs are also participating more and more in blogging; a 2012 study found that 63% of CEOs of Inc. 500 were contributing to their company's blog.

As I've said before, a company's C-Suite's use of social media provides a competitive advantage since individuals trust, identify with, purchase more from and are more likely to work for companies whose executive leadership is active on social media.

Does your company's CEO use social media? If so, what are your thoughts on this? Let me know by posting a comment below!